During the conference “Fintech-2024. Development directions” organized by Kommersant, the Center for Biometric Technologies revealed statistics on the collection of biometric data of citizens in a single biometric system (EBS).
Deputy general director of the Center, Dmitry Ter-Stepanov, disclosed that only about 1% of Russians opted out of transferring their biometric data to the EBS.
Ter-Stepanov clarified that the initial wave of concern triggered by fake messages regarding the deadline for refusal was short-lived, and now the trend of refusal statements is almost nonexistent. He mentioned, “Now the number of people refusing to provide biometric data is approaching zero.”
Last year, companies were given the opportunity to upload already collected biometric data of customers to the EBS, with each participant being duly informed of the process, according to Dmitry. As a result, data from approximately half of the citizens has already been incorporated into the EBS, highlighting a significant disparity between the perceived safety concerns around biometrics and the actual situation in this field.
Besides, there has been a notable increase in voluntary submissions of biometric data, with the number of such citizens tripling since the beginning of the year, now totaling a million individuals.